


winter in bloom

by aizensosuke



Series: ByaRen Week 2018 [3]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Birth, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, Humor, M/M, Marriage, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Kuchiki Byakuya, Trans Kuchiki Rukia, Trans Male Character, trans siblings ftw, yeah they BOTH are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 15:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16600220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aizensosuke/pseuds/aizensosuke
Summary: byakuya gives birth on a cold winter's night.





	winter in bloom

The twins are born on a winter’s night when the air outside threatens to burn the skin and the snowfall is so thick that trying to navigate makes it nearly impossible.

Just the same, members of the fourth division arrive when Renji sends for them, and Unohana looks remarkably conscious for a woman who must have been shortly roused out of bed. Renji never specified she had to be the one to come, and he would have thought she would have sent someone else in her place as the captain of the division, but she arrives with her hair dusted in snow and a serene smile on her face. Isane is with her, which only confirms to Renji that they must be treating this as a very serious case. Probably because Byakuya is a captain, too.

“I apologize for the wait, but the snow is very difficult to travel in.” Unohana shrugs out of the layer of shawls wrapped around her shoulders and Isane takes them, fingers delicate and careful on her captain’s shoulders. “Would you like to show me to his room, Abarai Fukutaichou? From the way it sounds, he’s been in labor for many hours.”

Renji blanches at the words, his mouth falling open. “I… I don’t think… Are you sure?”

“If the pain has become severe enough for Kuchiki taichou to send for me, I would think that he must have been handling the minor contractions throughout the day with the understanding he might be in labor for ten hours or more.” Unohana is so calm and relaxed as she follows him down the hallway, Isane not far behind her, following at a polite distance behind her captain. “I told him that when we first spoke about preparations that needed to be made.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.” And he feels  _ stupid _ for not knowing it, on top of everything else.

Unohana smiles gently and touches him on the arm. “No worries, Abarai Fukutaichou. It was a private conversation between the two of us. Kuchiki taichou knows that you are overprotective and that you worry too much and wanted clarification on the subject.”

_ Amazing how that just makes me feel  _ so _ much worse _ . “I guess it would be dumb to worry when the captain and lieutenant of the Fourth are here to take care of him.”

“Kuchiki taichou requested it for the utmost security should anything go wrong.” Unohana pauses outside of Byakuya’s door, stretching out a hand, her fingers glowing briefly in front of the wood before she nods once. “I hope you prepared as I asked you to.”

Renji hesitates before nodding quickly. “I did. I just… I don’t think I really understand how this is supposed to be  _ less _ painful. It seems like it would hurt a lot more to stand.”

“Kuchiki taichou’s pain tolerance is incredibly high even as a member of the Gotei Thirteen, so managing pain levels will be simple.” Isane is the one who speaks up now, clapping Renji on the back with a reassuring expression on her face that does quite a bit to calm him down, all things considered. “But we’re working with gravity here. It’ll be easier to bear the contractions and is typically a faster and easier way to get through the birth. Did you clean the bathroom?”

“I didn’t, but the servants did as soon as I sent for you.” In fact, nearly a dozen of them had thrown themselves into the task as soon as Renji instructed them to do so, and he disguised his smile at the sight. When Hisana had died, most of them gave up the idea of having children in the house and he’s gotten the impression, over the years, that they  _ wanted _ children here.

“That’s very good.” Unohana takes a deep breath and touches his arm, and instantly a sense of calm spreads through his limbs, unknotting the nerves in his gut. “Trust us to know what we are doing and follow my instructions without question. I am the captain of the Fourth and I have been present for hundreds of births over the years. Everything will be fine, and if something goes wrong, I more than have the skills to make sure that it rights itself.”

When Renji had left the bedroom to send a messenger for the Fourth and to command the servants, he assumed Byakuya would be waiting for him in bed. He is, of a sort, but not in the way Renji expects. Instead he sits on the edge of the bed, one hand braced on the underside of his abdomen, taking slow and deep breaths even as he winces and grits his teeth. Astoundingly strong even now, Renji thinks, calm and in control of such an out of control situation.

“Kuchiki taichou.” Unohana bows her head as she approaches, resting a hand on his abdomen. “Ah, I see we have quite a bit of movement. Someone is eager to meet you.”

“Unohana taichou, I am sorry to have had to retrieve you in a snowstorm,” Byakuya says pleasantly, as if this is just a conversation over afternoon tea and not the birth of his child.

Unohana smiles softly and then touches his shoulder, and Renji can see the wave of comforting reiatsu that spreads from the tips of her fingers. “Of course it is not a problem. I told Isane I would not be surprised if such a thing occurred after all. Shall we move to the bathroom?”

“I can carry you,” Renji blurts out, and Byakuya chuckles softly and nods once.

Renji had been there for most of Byakuya’s meetings with Unohana once he entered the eighth month of his pregnancy and the reality of their child coming into the world soon became a rapidly approaching reality they would need to be prepared for. Most of it made him feel entirely too useless because there was only so much he could do to take care of Byakuya, only so much he could do to help him through this process. Most of this is on him with Renji more or less just hanging around for moral support, but he knows intellectually that Byakuya could have done this entirely alone and probably managed to get through it just fine.

“Renji-sama!” The unexpected voice behind him startles him and he whirls around to see a servant hovering there, her expression pinched. “Rukia-sama is downstairs and demanding to know why you didn’t immediately send for her when Byakuya-sama went into labor.”

_ Son of a bitch. _ “She wasn’t supposed to— Okay, you know what, never mind, just send her up here and tell her we’re going to be in the bathroom so she can let herself in.”

“Did you expect Rukia not to find out?” Byakuya asks, an amused note in his voice.

“I don’t think I expected her to find out so  _ fast, _ ” Renji says, slipping an arm beneath Byakuya’s knees and another around the small of his back, sweeping him off of the floor like he weighs nothing. “At any rate, she’s going to castrate me for doing this, so wish me luck.”

Byakuya laughs against his shoulder and then winces, and Renji feels a twinge of guilt in his gut as he carries Byakuya across the hallway to the bathing room which is more spotless than usual if that is even possible. Renji sits Byakuya down on a chair not far from the bath, making sure he’s situated before stepping back to let Unohana and Isane check him over. Unohana announces he’s nearing enough dilation to begin pushing and Renji feels sweat hot on his palms a moment before something small but deadly smacks him in the back of the head.

“You complete  _ bastard, _ ” Rukia says, and Renji shields his head a moment before she throws another smack. “You should have told me first. I had to hear from Ukitake taichou.”

“How does  _ he _ even— You know what, I don’t know what to know. I don’t need to.” Renji turns to see Rukia positively  _ glaring _ up at him, her hair a rumpled mess and she’s forgotten her haori, which is fine because he wouldn’t have expected her to remember it anyway. What he doesn’t expect is Orihime right behind her, beaming up at him. “Oh, Orihime. Hello.”

Orihime’s smile widens and she lifts her hand, wiggling her fingers. “Hello, Renji-san. I thought I should come along because I’ve done this before and I can be of some help.”

That much is true; Orihime had given birth to Ichika at the beginning of the year, a beautiful little girl who was the spitting image of her human mother with her shinigami mother’s beautiful violet eyes. Renji loves his niece, loves her smiles and playing with her and had been in attendance when she was born, a crowded affair considering all of Orihime’s friends had come along on top of Byakuya and Renji joining them. Even Ukitake had been there, though he waited in the hallway for his chance to meet Rukia’s daughter. So maybe Renji owed this to her.

“Orihime-chan, I’m glad you’re here!” Unohana brushes past Renji and walks up to her, taking her gently by the arm and leading her to Byakuya. “Lead him through his breathing exercises while I prepare a few things. Isane, come assist me. Kuchiki taichou is in good hands.”

The three of them end up kind of hovering around Byakuya with only Orihime being of any real use, leading him through the exercises Unohana had asked her to, letting him hold onto her hands and not even seeming to mind when he squeezes them slightly. Rukia stands with her hand on his shoulder and a tense expression on her face while Renji keeps an arm bracing his back, hoping that their combined presence is of any help at all. It brings back memories of being moral support for Orihime, who had been cheerful through the entire process.

“Remember when Ichika was born?” As if reading his thoughts, Rukia gives him a light punch on the shoulder and Renji grins, giving her a nod. “I thought I was going to die from the stress alone. Orihime wasn’t even phased about any of it and I was dying.”

“You are over dramatic,” Byakuya tells her, and Rukia makes a face at his back.

Orihime presses a hand to Byakuya’s stomach, looking surprisingly startled a moment later. “My, my, someone is very strong. Do you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?”

“We asked Unohana to keep it from us so we could be surprised,” Byakuya tells her, and Orihime nods in understanding. “I remember you wanted to know right away because Ishida wanted to start making clothes for the baby and he wanted a basic framework to work with.”

“He made so many pretty dresses for Ichika. He still does. She’s growing so fast.” Orihime laughs at the thought and Renji rubs a soothing circle into Byakuya’s back when he feels his husband tense up slightly. “I wonder if he’s going to do the same should he have his own child.”

Rukia makes a derisive sound. “As if Ichigo would slow down enough to have one.”

“All right. Preparations are completed. Let me see.” Unohana kneels down once more in front of Byakuya and Renji watches her fingers trace a path across his abdomen, a much more suitable way to be sure of the dilation than just physically looking apparently. “We are where we need to be. I would ask, Kuchiki taichou and Abarai fukutaichou, that you allow him to hold your hands so he has the two of you to aid in his stability. Orihime, since you’re here, would you like to help Isane clean the child up when it is born?”

Orihime brightens immediately, bouncing on the balls of her feet before she looks at Byakuya. “Ah, I’m sorry, Byakuya-san, I should have been asking you first if that was okay.”

“No need to, Orihime. You are family, and I am happy that you are here. Please, assist.” Byakuya smiles softly at her, and Orihime is like sunshine all over again.

Helping Byakuya stand is not overly hard and Renji shifts to wrap an arm around his waist to help him brace, letting Byakuya hold onto his hand while Rukia offers both of her smaller ones to him. Unohana tugs the loose fabric of his sleep shirt up and Renji keeps it trapped against his skin, and a sense of excitement rolls sudden and heavy through him as he realizes that the last nine months the two of them have been doing this together is finally coming to a head.

The discovery and the secret they kept together for the first three months, training new members of the Sixth while they howled in disbelief at the fact that every Hollow who dared to try to touch Byakuya was instantly thrown back by his kido spell. Ignoring his family and refusing to let them have their way over him; they had eventually banned half of the Kuchiki clan from ever seeing the child should they desire not to get their shit together much to Renji’s relief. Telling their friends, watching their excited expressions, Ichigo slapping him on the back and telling him it was well time for them to have the family they’d always clearly wanted.

“Okay, Kuchiki taichou.” Unohana looks up at Byakuya, her deep blue eyes as calming as the sea. “You are sufficiently prepared. You can begin pushing, and gravity will aid you.”

Byakuya exhales slowly, his head falling forward. “Thank you all for your assistance.”

Renji’s brain seems to go on auto pilot for a good portion of the labor process and he’s kept in place only by Byakuya’s steely grip on his hand, slender fingers all but crushing his own while Byakuya works to push their child out of his body. Unohana is calm and patient, reassures him and praises him, her hands rising quickly after a few endless moments. Renji leans slightly to see what she’s doing and his breath sticks firmly in his throat at the sight of a small child, streaked with blood and other matter, dark hair matted atop its head.

_ His _ head, as it turns out, and Renji’s brain promptly leaks out of his ears.  _ We have a son. _

Unohana is clinical in all she does, having Isane hold the baby while she cuts the umbilical cord, checking him over with a discerning eye. “Healthy. Very good. Orihime, take care to clean him.”

“Of course!” Orihime takes the baby without hesitation, not minding the blood at all, and Renji can see the moment when he slowly opens his eyes to look up at her, not crying at all. “Hello, little one. Oh, you have your father’s brown eyes, don’t you?”

“Let me… Oh.” Unohana pauses as she leans close to Byakuya once more, looking up at him, her mouth opening just slightly before she gathers herself. “Can you tell, taichou?”

“I can.” Byakuya’s body shudders and Renji is startled, worried, because gods, what now? “It should be easier this time since I’ve had the experience. Let’s do this.”

“What’s going on?” Rukia asks, though her voice is distant and far away.

“It appears that Kuchiki taichou and Abarai fukutaichou are having twins,” Unohana says pleasantly, shifting into position once more. “Whenever you’re ready.”

The second labor process does go faster but Renji almost blacks out just the same when Unohana says  _ twins. _ He keeps his grip on Byakuya, letting his husband lean into him, letting Byakuya rest his exhaustion on Renji’s frame while he labors through this. And it’s then that Renji really gets an eyeful of his expression, the determination in his pale grey eyes, the slight smile at the corners of his lips because despite the pain, he’s happy.

Renji’s heart swells until it threatens to crack through his ribs and break free of his body.

“Here we are,” Unohana announces, and Renji looks down once more, watches her hands come away with another child and he chokes at the cap of dishevelled red hair on his  _ daughter’s _ head. “Isane, I believe this means you win the betting pool after all.”

“The betting pool,” Renji says, but his voice sounds like it doesn’t belong to him.

Isane smiles up at him as she holds his daughter in her hands, allowing Unohana to look her over before she hands her over to Orihime. “I had a gut feeling about this.”

The labor process over, Unohana quickly moves to heal Byakuya’s exhausted body, helping him pass the afterbirth before her healing reiatsu clears the rest of his injuries up, soothing his pain until there is nothing left of it. When Renji sits him down in the chair, he looks remarkably the same as he did before the pregnancy, and his mussed hair and sweaty skin seems out of place now compared to the placid expression on his face, the softness in his features.

He isn’t looking at any of them. He’s looking at Orihime instead, who sits on her knees with their daughter in one arm and their son in the other, both of them looking around with wide eyes.

Their daughter has Byakuya’s grey eyes. Fuck. Holy fuck, they’re both so beautiful.

“Do you have names chosen for them?” Unohana asks, using the hot water she prepared to wash her hands, as Isane does as well.

“We had a name chosen for a boy and for a girl, which is lucky I suppose.” Byakuya holds his arms out and Rukia helps Orihime stand so she can walk over to him, she and Rukia setting a child in each of his arms. “The boy is Touma, and the girl is Niko.”

Rukia’s face softens. “They’re both so beautiful, nii-sama. You did an excellent job.”

“They’re both perfect,” Renji says, and his voice is rough with emotion, and his eyes sting, but their son— Touma— looks up at him, and Renji is reminded of the pictures he’d seen of Byakuya when he was younger, soft features and wide eyes and dark hair and his heart squeezes so violently in his chest that it chokes a sob from them. “Fuck, Byakuya, you did such a good job. I… I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much for this.”

“Of course.” Byakuya smiles sweetly up at him. “Would you like to hold one of them?”

Niko protests the moment her brother is shifted away from her but Byakuya quiets her, holding her close to his chest, his fingers sifting through her soft red hair until she leans into him. Touma makes a small noise up at Renji but otherwise seems to be fine with being moved around, peeking up at Renji with his own eyes, and he’s so achingly perfect. They both are.

“Kuchiki or Abarai?” Rukia asks, coming to stand at her brother’s side.

“Kuchiki to spite the members of our family who do not think Renji was a proper match for me or that we should have had children together.” They had talked about that, Renji remembers, because Byakuya was furious when the initial anguish faded away. Furious with his family, furious that so many of them would have ignored these children over something as pointless as who their other father was. “Kuchiki Touma and Kuchiki Niko.”

“Ichika is going to be so happy to meet them,” Orihime gushes, stretching out a hand to gently brush her fingers through Touma’s hair. “Everyone is. They’re both so  _ cute. _ ”

Renji feels like all of this is unreal— And then Touma yawns at him and he brings his son closer, presses his face against the child’s hair, listens to the soft noises Touma makes up at him. He only lets him go when Byakuya wants to hold him so he can hold Niko, and she curls a finger around a loose strand of Renji’s hair, the same deep crimson as her own. Her eyes are more lavender than grey, Renji notes, and she’s beautiful. She’s so perfect.

“We should get Kuchiki taichou in bed now,” Unohana announces, rising to her feet. “I’ll do one more check over the children before Isane and I will be on our way. If Orihime-chan plans on staying the night, she can always contact me if there is any healing that needs to be done that is beyond her capabilities, but I would think there is not much that is.”

Orihime flushes at the compliment but beams just the same. “Of course, Unohana taichou!”

Byakuya does not need to be carried to bed, his injuries and soreness healed, so he and Renji merely walk, each of them carrying one of their children. Rukia disappears down the hallway and reappears with the cradle Renji had commissioned from one of the most reputable carpenters in Soul Society, a present for Byakuya, and he’s glad he listened to Rukia when she told him to order it larger than he thought necessary. Both children will be able to lie comfortably within the safety of its padded walls, and Renji is relieved.

Orihime escorts the Fourth downstairs and Rukia situates the cradle before holding her arms over her chest. “We’ll be staying the night, of course. Just in case anything happens.”

“Of course,” Byakuya tells her, sitting on the edge of his bed. “Come here, Rukia. Come meet your niece and nephew officially. We can introduce Ichika when the weather is better.”

“That would be for the best, I think. We left her in Ichigo’s care for the night since Orihime was adamant she did not want her out in this weather. Not that I would have argued.” Rukia sits at Byakuya’s side and takes Touma, holding him carefully in her arms. “Well, look at you. It’s nice to finally meet you, Touma. You kept us waiting quite a while, didn’t you?”

When Orihime returns, she walks up to Byakuya. “You should probably lie down, Byakuya-san. Unohana requested that I show you how to feed them before I retire for the evening. She also said I should consider being a midwife with the Fourth, isn’t that kind of her?”

Renji can’t exactly assist in this but he sits at Byakuya’s side just the same and lets Byakuya lean into him, looking down at their children, the dark head and the red head cradled against Byakuya’s chest, the contrast between the two of them. He’d never expected to have twins and it makes his eyes wet all over again, has him pressing a kiss to Byakuya’s soft hair.

“Thank you,” he says, and he hopes it conveys the gravity of his feelings.

Byakuya hums softly. “You’re welcome, Renji. It was well worth it, I believe.”

_ More than worth it, _ Renji thinks. Nothing could ever mean more than this.

**Author's Note:**

> so twins it was after all! touma and niko were chosen because of what their names mean and now renji and byakuya have two perfect mixes of themselves. a few quick notes: giving birth standing up is perfectly possible and usually easier and while i am aware babies' eyes are blue immediately after birth, i skimped on that detail so i could talk about their eye color early. also rukihime is here and ichika is now their daughter since rukia named her after orihime's favorite flower (the strawberry flower) so it just felt right to do it this way.


End file.
